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Growing Up Girl: Psycho-Social Explorations of Gender and Class

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Valerie Walkerdine

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“The prison system fails at protecting communities from crime. It fails terribly at rehabilitating people. It's obscenely expensive - as the rapper and social critic, Akala, has pointed out, 'It costs more to send s child to prison than it does you send them to Eton'. So why does our failing and expensive system continue? In short, because it does a good job at punishing those at the bottom who step out of line.”

“The pressure to accumulate, the understanding that poverty is shameful, the double shame of being black and poor, the constant refrain of materialism coming from every facet of popular culture, the empty fridge, the disconnected electricity, the insecurity of being a tenant with eviction always just a few missed paycheques away, the stress and anger of your parents that trickles down far better than any capital accumulation, the naked injustices that you now know to be reality and the growing belief that one is indeed all of the negative stereotypes that the people with the power say you are. These are the factors that aided my own ego in turning me from a wannabe Max Planck to a wannabe gangster. I ultimately take responsibility for my own actions, but there is still a story there and being treated like and presumed to be a criminal for years before I ever contemplated actually carrying a knife is part of that story.”

“hand, it became increasingly clear that many problems that U.S. Blacks faced were not due solely to racial discrimination. While many African- Americans benefited from the changed legislative climate, many others did not. Class factors were equally important. Many Blacks endured downward social mobility from the working-class center. The downwardly mobile—those who lost their jobs and failed to find new ones—joined a growing population of poor Blacks that had been on the bottom all along.This growing group on the bottom, often referred to as the “Black underclass,” was not the cause of Black economic disadvantage but, instead, constituted one outcome.”

“The intelligent woman adapts herself to fashion, but never to fad. She knows what is best for her, and her way of life, and sticks to it. She raises and lowers her hemline — with discretion — but she goes on with her timeless dresses made with the basic lines and fabrics that flatter HER, define HER life style. She’s secure, and so she can be an elegant individual.”